The Hindu : No one's ruling Mirajuddin Patel out

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Feb 19, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Karnataka

No one's ruling Mirajuddin Patel out

By K.N. Reddy

BIDAR Feb. 18. Will the JD(S) candidate for the February 26 byelection to the Assembly from Humnabad constituency, Mirajuddin Patel, upset the apple cart of the Congress and the BJP?

Even Mr. Patel's political opponents do not rule out the possibility. His main strength is his achievements as a minister in the Janata Dal governments headed by H.D. Deve Gowda and late J.H. Patel, and also as chairman of the Bidar Sahakar Sakkare Karkhane (BSSK).

Even though Mirajuddin Patel has maintained a low profile since his defeat in the 1999 Assembly elections, no one is ruling out the possibility of Mr. Patel walking away with victory as he did in the 1994 Assembly elections.

Before the 1994 Assembly elections, not many people outside Bidar taluk knew of Mr. Patel. Hailing from a tiny village in Humnabad taluk, Mr. Patel was more of a party worker than a leader.

He was a follower of the former minister and DCC Bank Chairman, Gurupadappa Nagamarpally, with whose help he became a director of the DCC Bank from 1985 to 1994.

The political career of Mr. Patel, who was a mandal panchayat chairman then, took an upswing and he was catapulted to the centre stage of State politics when he was elected as the JD candidate from Humnabad in the 1994 elections, defeating the present district in-charge minister, Basavaraj Patil Humnabad.

When Mr. Deve Gowda became Chief Minister following the elections, he had a tough task in giving representation to Bidar District which had elected three JD MLAs. Mr. Nagamarpally and Basavaraj Patil Attur (Basavakalyan constituency), both from the dominant Lingayat community, were strong contenders for ministership.

Mr. Gowda ignored their claim, as they were followers of his bete noire, Ramakrishna Hegde, and made Mr. Patel Minister of State for Municipal Administration.

Some sudden political developments in the district enabled Mr. Patel to become the chairman of the ailing BSSK, which was the lone cooperative sugar factory in the district then.

Although Bidar has had several tall leaders such as Manik Rao Patil, Bheemanna Khandre, Veerashetty Kushnoor, Mr. Humnabad, and Mr. Nagamarpally, none of them was a minister for as long as Mr. Patel was.

He was a minister for almost five years from 1994 to 1999, even though he had to make an unceremonious exit from the J.H. Patel Ministry after he allegedly tried to bribe a journalist. He was re-inducted into the ministry after a brief hiatus.

Mr. Patel is remembered for his contribution to reinvigorating the BSSK, which was on the verge of closure. Using his clout, Mr. Patel managed to get a loan of Rs. four crore from the Government besides Rs. four crore from the Hyderabad Karnataka Development Board.

Apart from solving the chronic drinking water problem in Humnabad town at a cost of Rs. three crore, Mr. Patel is also credited with having got three hospitals sanctioned for the taluk in Humnabad town, Mannakhelli, and Chitaguppa. He also got eight hostels sanctioned for the taluk.

"There were no tarred roads to 19 villages, including my own village. The roads to these villages were completed during my period as minister," he says.

Mr. Patel does not subscribe to the view that his success depends upon the nearly 30,000-strong Muslim voters. "In my life I have been a truly secular person and have never practised communal politics. I enjoy the support of all communities and my achievements are my strength. I seek votes based on my performance and I'm sure I'll get support from all communities."

He is also of the view that compared to the last election, things are more in his favour now.

"I lost last time because polls took simultaneously for both Parliament and the Assembly, and also due to the split in the Janata Dal. Even though the All-India Janata Dal has fielded a candidate, he will not affect my prospects because the voters will exercise their franchise intelligently."

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